On April 24, 2019, the Sedgwick County Offender Re-Entry (SCORE) Program of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office participated in the Mobile ID Pilot Program of the Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Motor Vehicles. With this program prequalified inmates, who were close to release, were able to get a new state issued identification card issued while still in custody. These inmates either paid for their own identification card or a local non-profit covered the cost. Because of the Mobile ID Program these inmates will have a critical form of identification to assist them with getting jobs, housing, and services in the community they are about to rejoin.
The SCORE Program was created to assist inmates reentering our local community by helping them gain access to government IDs, housing, medical & mental health services, food resources, and employment. The goal of this program is to help inmates gain access to basic services and employment prior to release. Thus giving an offender the opportunity to be successful and stay in the community. The SCORE Program is an effort to break the cycle of recidivism, which in our community is currently at 60% at two years post release. Services for inmates range from simply providing flyers and maps on where to find services, enrollment in programs that will assist with housing, finding employment, as well as assistance with gaining identification documents.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office plans to continue adding to the SCORE Program but to date no taxpayer dollars have been used to build and implement this program. The SCORE Program’s goal is to help any inmate who wants to make a change in order to better their life, and the lives of those close to them, by successfully rejoining our community.